# Khula in Pakistan: procedure, papers and how long it takes > Khula is a suit the wife files in the Family Court. If reconciliation fails, the court must pass the decree straight away, and the law tells the court to finish the case within six months (Family Courts Act, sections 10 and 12-A). - Topic: Family - A step-by-step guide: https://failegal.site/media/khula-procedure-pakistan-how-long - Published by FAI Legal on 2026-10-10 ## What khula is and where you file it Khula is how a wife ends her marriage through the court. She files a suit for dissolution of marriage in the Family Court, which alone hears it (Punjab section 5 and Part I of the Schedule). You do not have to file in the husband's city. The Supreme Court has said that for dissolution and dower suits "the option of instituting such suits vests with the wife and the Court is bound to take her convenience subject to law" (2024 SCMR 634, para 10). In Punjab one plaint can carry every claim: > "Provided that a plaint for dissolution of marriage may contain all claims relating to dowry, maintenance, dower, personal property and belongings of wife, custody of children and visitation rights of parents to meet their children." (Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 7) ## Step by step: from plaint to decree This is the order in the Punjab text of the Act. Check fees and forms at the Family Court. - **Step 1: File the plaint**: State the facts, list your witnesses with a short summary of each, attach the documents you rely on, such as the nikah nama, and give one copy per defendant (Punjab section 7). - **Step 2: The husband answers**: On the date fixed he must file a written statement. If he does not, the court may allow it on the next date, not more than fifteen days later. If he was served and does not come, the court may proceed ex parte (Punjab section 9(1) and 9(5)). - **Step 3: Pre-trial hearing and reconciliation**: The court fixes an early pre-trial date, reads the papers and tries to bring the two of you to a compromise (section 10(1) to 10(3)). - **Step 4: Decree if reconciliation fails**: In a suit for dissolution, if reconciliation fails the court shall immediately pass the decree (Punjab section 10(5)). The Supreme Court has upheld a preliminary decree of khula passed the same day reconciliation failed, with the other claims left for evidence (2024 SCMR 634, paras 14 and 17). - **Step 5: Other claims go to trial**: Dower, maintenance and dowry may need evidence. Then one more reconciliation attempt within fifteen days, and judgment (section 12). - **Step 6: The decree goes to the union council**: In Punjab the court must send a certified copy of the decree to the Chairman within three days (section 21-B). ## How long does khula take? No law promises a date. The law gives the court a target and you a remedy: Other limits in the law: fifteen extra days at most for the written statement, an immediate decree once reconciliation fails, three days for the decree to reach the Chairman, then the union council stage below. Adjournments and service problems often stretch this. > "A Family Court shall dispose of a case, including as a suit for dissolution of marriage, within a period of six months from the date of institution: Provided that where a case is not disposed of within six months either party shall have a right to make an application to the High Court for necessary direction as the High Court may deem fit." (Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 12-A) ## What happens to haq mehr in khula In Punjab, section 10(5) lets the court ask the wife to give back part of her dower, with a ceiling: The Supreme Court applied this ceiling in January 2026 and said section 10(5) "does not make any distinction between consummated and unconsummated marriages" (2026 SCMR 561, para 11). It also said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, "section 10(5) of the Act, as amended in Punjab, has no application" (2026 SCMR 561, para 12). In 2023 it held a wife entitled to half of a house given as deferred dower, because her khula decree ordered a 50% surrender (2023 SCMR 1394, para 5). Be careful: the status of section 10(5) and 10(6) is not settled. One Lahore High Court bench held they were "not in force" (2025 CLC 1074, para 8) because of a Federal Shariat Court ruling effective 1 May 2022. Another bench said that ruling had not taken effect because Punjab appealed (PLD 2025 Lahore 18, para 16). The Supreme Court's 2026 case involved a 2018 decree. Ask a lawyer which view applies to you. Outside Punjab, the general text of the Act in the FAI library instead asks the court to restore the dower received at marriage. We could not confirm which text applies in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan or Islamabad. See also our article on PLD 2026 SC 302: a court cannot turn your case into khula on its own. > "In a suit for dissolution of marriage, if reconciliation fails, the Family Court shall immediately pass a decree for dissolution of marriage and, in case of dissolution of marriage through khula, may direct the wife to surrender up to fifty percent of her deferred dower or up to twenty-five percent of her admitted prompt dower to the husband. (6) Subject to subsection (5), in the decree for dissolution of marriage, the Family Court shall direct the husband to pay whole or part of the outstanding deferred dower to the wife." (Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 10) > "Provided that notwithstanding any decision or judgement of any court or tribunal, the Family Court in a suit for dissolution of marriage, if reconciliation fails, shall pass decree for dissolution of marriage forthwith and shall also restore to the husband the Haq Mehr received by the wife in consideration of marriage at the time of marriage." (The Family Courts Act, 1964 · Section 10) ## When the marriage actually ends In Punjab the Chairman who receives the decree must act as if he had received a talaq notice: Section 8 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance applies section 7 to other dissolutions. The Lahore High Court, reading Supreme Court cases on khula, said: "In view of section 8 of the MFLO, the procedural requirements of section 7 must be observed" (PLD 2026 Lahore 343, para 9). Section 7(3) is the 90-day rule. We did not find a judgment that fixes the exact day a court khula decree takes effect. Ask the union council which date it records before you plan a new nikah. > "If a Family Court decrees dissolution of a Muslim marriage, the Family Court shall immediately but not later than three days from the decree send by registered post or other means a certified copy of the decree to the concerned Chairman of the Arbitration Council and upon receipt of the decree, the Chairman shall proceed as if he had received intimation of Talaq under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (VIII of 1961)." (Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 21-B) ## Can khula be challenged? - **Appeal on the dissolution itself**: Generally no. Punjab section 14(2)(a) bars an appeal from a decree for dissolution of marriage, except for one ground under the 1939 Act. - **Ex parte decree**: A husband who was not served, or had sufficient cause for not appearing, may apply to the same Family Court within thirty days of the notice of the decree to set it aside (Punjab section 9(6) and 9(7)). - **Dower and maintenance parts**: Appealable above the limits in section 14(2)(b) and (c); in Punjab, dower above one hundred thousand rupees. - **High Court and Supreme Court**: Khula cases have reached the High Court in constitutional petitions and then the Supreme Court (2023 SCMR 1394; 2024 SCMR 634). The Supreme Court set aside a khula the wife never asked for (PLD 2026 SC 302, para 9). > "(2) No appeal shall lie from a decree passed by a Family Court– (a) for dissolution of marriage, except in the case of dissolution for reasons specified in clause (d) of item (viii) of section 2 of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939;" (Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 14) ## What this does not mean - Six months is a target in the law, not a promise. Many cases take longer. - The dower rule quoted is the Punjab text, and its force is disputed. ## Questions people ask ### How long does khula take in Pakistan? The law tells the Family Court to decide the case within six months of filing, and either side may go to the High Court if it does not (section 12-A). After that the union council stage follows. ### What papers do I need for khula? The plaint, witness list with summaries, your documents such as the nikah nama, and copies for each defendant (Punjab section 7). ### Can my husband stop the khula by refusing? No. If reconciliation fails the court shall pass the decree (Punjab section 10(5)). The Supreme Court said that where the wife is not willing to live with her husband, "the Court is left with no option, but to dissolve the marriage" (2024 SCMR 634, para 15). ### Can khula be challenged? Generally no appeal lies against the dissolution itself (section 14(2)(a)). An ex parte decree can be challenged within thirty days of notice. ## Sources - Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 7: Institution of suits - Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 10: Pre-trial proceedings - Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 12-A: Cases to be disposed of within a specified period - Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 21-B: Intimation to Arbitration Council - Punjab Family Courts Act 1964 · Section 14: Appeals - The Family Courts Act, 1964 · Section 10: Pre-trial proceedings - Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 · Section 8: Dissolution of marriage otherwise than by talaq (official text: https://pakistancode.gov.pk/english/UY2FqaJw1-apaUY2Fqa-apaUY2Npa5po-sg-jjjjjjjjjjjjj) - Sohail Ahmed v. Mst. Samreena Rasheed Memon, 2024 SCMR 634, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 20 December 2023. Wife may sue where she ordinarily resides; preliminary khula decree on failed reconciliation upheld. - Mst. Rafia Yaqoob v. Suleman Ayub, 2026 SCMR 561, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 23 January 2026. In Punjab khula, return is capped at 25% of admitted prompt dower, consummated or not. - Syed Amir Raza v. Mst. Rohi Mumtaz, 2023 SCMR 1394, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 5 May 2023. Wife who took khula with a 50% surrender order held entitled to half of the house given as deferred dower. - Mst. Naila Javed v. Nasir Khan, PLD 2026 SC 302, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 12 January 2026. Court cannot convert a suit into khula without the wife's clear statement. (official text: https://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/downloads_judgements/c.p._3767_2025.pdf) - Jameel Ahmad v. The State, PLD 2026 Lahore 343, Lahore High Court, 14 November 2025. Section 7 procedure applies to khula and mubara'at through section 8. - Asif Mehmood v. Additional District Judge, 2025 CLC 1074, Lahore High Court, 10 April 2025. Treated sections 10(5) and 10(6) as not in force from 1 May 2022 after a Federal Shariat Court ruling. - Syed Shouzab Imran Kazmi v. Syeda Iffat Bukhari, PLD 2025 Lahore 18, Lahore High Court, 31 October 2024. Said the Federal Shariat Court ruling on section 10(5) had not taken effect because Punjab appealed. --- Educational legal information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak to a qualified lawyer about your situation. Review status: Pending advocate review.